Kenya
This trip was a long time coming. We originally scheduled this trip with our close friends Matt and Rebecca and Rebecca's parents (Scott and Mary Ann) back in 2020. Of course, it was canceled because of COVID. When Rebecca let us know that Scott was planning another trip to Kenya, we got on board.
What's interesting was we had never actually met Scott and Mary Ann in person. Jen had corresponded with Scott about the original travel plans for Kenya and trading tips in the never ending points/status game that each of them were always playing.
Scott and Mary Ann were up in MA to visit and all six of us got together for a weekend afternoon. We talked for hours about our lives and travel experiences. We talked about our South African safari experience and suggestions for soft sided suitcases. Scott had arranged to meet one of his clients in the afternoon, and we took it as a good sign when he canceled those plans to continue to spend time with us.
I don't think any of us had really been worried about our ability to travel together, but after the enjoyable visit we were all even more excited about the pending trip.
We were flying Qatar, through Doha, this trip. I had flown the same route on my way to India for a work trip. We had better seats on this trip. We were unable to arrange for the middle seats which allowed for a larger sleeping area, but the food and service were great.
12 hours, 21 minutes Airbus A350-900 6,502 mi
We always do our best to minimize layover time. We fly through Heathrow so often that we really know how long we need to still have time for the lounge. Our choices for flight connections provided 90 minutes or 6 hours. We chose the tighter connection and had to move quickly. The Doha airport is very large and we had to move from one end to the other. There was no time for the lounge, but we made the gate without a problem.
5 hours Boeing 777-300ER 2,082 mi
We landed late and met with our transfer service who whisked us through passport and to the hotel. We're always happy when we can surprise the locals with our lack of checked bags.
The advantage to the late landing was we rolled into the hotel and straight to the room for bed.
We met up with Rebecca and Matt for breakfast. From the balcony of the hotel, one could look over the highway into Nairobi National Park.
We also discovered that Uber offered Safari rides right from the app. Isn't technology amazing?
Scott and Mary Ann had landed and had their time to nap and acclimate some. Jen had gotten us a reservation at The Talisman and so we all got in to an Uber. The menu was a little eclectic, but everything that we ordered, including the cocktails, were great.
We started the day early for breakfast and then our transfer to Tulia. This was the only transfer which was by car and not plane. It was quite the experience. Phillip, our driver from Pollman's, met us and loaded up the truck. He was to be our driver both for the trip to Amboseli and the days in the park.
Once we got outside of Nairobi, the main "highway" was only two lanes. One in each direction. Passing was mostly a game of chicken with the oncoming traffic, unless one simply drove off the road to the right and maneuvered around the traffic on the paved road completely.
There were a few really bad spots of traffic, which included one tractor trailer completely rolled over off the road, and another simply stopped on the road blocking all the traffic behind it.
We made one stop for restrooms and there was an extensive shop there as well. Matty got himself a belt while we were stopped.
We were glad when we made it to Tulia. We all settled into our tents. I was delighted when wild life just walked right out of the bush to the watering hole which was directly across from us.
Our first game drive of the trip was after lunch. It was most memorable as our first introduction to the insanely uneven, bumpy, barely passable entry road to Amboseli. It's amazing that none of us made a video of the wild process of slaloming back and forth across the road surface attempting to avoid the worst sections of road. My honest belief is that we were all clinging on to hand holds inside the truck and could not spare a hand for the creation of such a record.
When we asked why the park rangers didn't regrade the road (the needed equipment was sitting nearby) the answer was that they do, but at the beginning of the season. We were now at the end and so the road was about as bad as it could get.
Once we survived the road, we saw many animals including baby ostrich, baby zebra, baby elephant, our first lion, and we ended with an amazing sunset.
Each morning the animals came to the watering hole in their special order. First the birds, including Helmeted Guinea Fowl and Marabou storks. The sound of the storks swooping down over the tents was so loud that I ducked.
This was also the only time of day when Mount Kilimanjaro was visible before the haze/pollution would roll in and cover it.
This morning, we also had some zebra and warthogs which held a lovely pose for me.
One thing about Amboseli we had read about was that the vehicles are not allowed to leave the road in pursuit of animals. We encountered this with the lioness we saw the day before where she was just about at the limit of the range of my ability to shoot. The same happened with a male lion today.
Eventually we moved to the "watery side" of the park where many animals, including elephants, were very close to the road. I later learned from the map that this area was the Longinye Swamp. We saw some large elephants hip deep in the water right next to the road and by proxy, right next to us.
We stopped at the Ol Tuki Lounge to water the flowers and partake in a midday espresso. On the way in and out of the carpark, we saw a few monkeys including Olive Baboons.
As we headed back towards camp through Longinye Swamp, we saw flamingo for the first time. We would have much more time with them another day.
The watering hole continued to provide us with ample opportunity to observe animal behavior. This time we had a Gerenuk, a troop of Baboons, and a small herd of bull elephants.
We returned to Longinye Swamp and found elephants and hippo enjoying the cool water and ample greenery.
As we headed from the swamp towards camp, we saw our first spotted hyena and wildebeest heading back out of the park for evening.
Just as we neared camp, we saw our first kori bustard. This male was in full mating display, which is apparently a rare thing to see.
This morning there was a especially beautiful sunrise and a dazzle of Zebra calmly drinking.
The big event of the morning was a herd of elephants traveling with a baby too small to brave the depth of the water and were using the road to move to a spot less deep. It was a literal elephant traffic jam as all the safari vehicles made a safe formation which kept the baby from being able to separate from mom.
They walked in single file within an arm's reach from the open windows of our vehicle. It was an amazing encounter.
To the west of the Longinye swamp is the Enkongo Narok Swamp, which is noted to be the "permanent wetlands of Amboseli." Through both swamps, we saw many different birds taking advantage of elephants disturbing the water and stirring up insects which they could eat.
On the banks of Enkongo Narok, we encountered a bloat of hippo who were warming themselves in the sun and napping. This was also where we had lots of time with the flamboyance of flamingo that were present in the large open water areas.
The reason we had moved west especially for the "special mission" of following a predator who had been seen moving around the area. We stopped and spent time with other animals each time our target moved too far from the road to be seen. Finally, he moved back towards the road and the mission was a go.
We came upon the male lion in the grasses along the edge of the road and water. From watching a few shows about the Tsavo man-eaters, I had learned that it was common in this area of Kenya for male lions to have little or no mane. This was the first obvious example that we saw.
Matt and Rebecca had made the arrangements with our driver to visit a Masai Village the middle of the day. We drove further south from Enkongo Narok where we found the village that we would be visiting. We all had some hesitation about if we were just being tourists supporting a performative ritual which might cause harm. Our driver assured us that the tribe members relied on the financial support of visits to their village and while some of what we would see was being "performed" for us, most of what we would see was really part of their normal life.
The tribespeople were adept with camera phones, and we had hundreds of pictures and more than an hour of video captured on the various devices that we handed over to them. The visit ended with a visit to their "market" where the various men we had met introduced us to their families and tried to talk us into purchases.
All told we enjoyed our time at Tulia. The staff were very pleasant and always ready to assist. Meals were good, and eating outside with a breeze and a view never gets old. Amboseli was an amazing park, which we enjoyed despite how difficult driving on the entrance road was. There were circumstance where the ability to go off-road would have been beneficial, but we still had amazing animal encounters some of which were incredibly close to our vehicle.
This was our final drive with Phillip. In our time in Amboseli, we had heard about a cheetah moving around in the park, but had yet to manage an encounter. We joked as we drove to the airstrip that this would, of course, be when we would see the cheetah because we wouldn't be able to spend a ton of time.
In anticipation of seeing something on the way to the airstrip, I hadn't fully packed one of the cameras. Sure enough as we drove towards the airstrip: we spotted the cheetah moving across the landscape. We were able to spend a few minutes observing. The cat was moving with purpose, on the way into the park for the day, which served our needs as Phillip was nervous about us being late and missing our flight.
1 hour, 15 minutes De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 96 mi
Instead of a drive back to Nairobi, our transfer was a short flight to Wilson Airport (the regional Nairobi Airport) and then a further flight onward.
While we were in Nairobi, we noticed the "purple trees" that were everywhere. As we approached the city from the air: one could really see their beauty and how many of them were planted.
1 hour De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 94 mi
We were met at the airstrip by our new driver Alex. There was a bit of a drive to camp, but the truck was stocked and this was the first of several beers enjoyed while driving through the bush.
We checked in at camp and made our way to our tents. The four "children" had been placed in the "family" tents which were next to each other and had an adjoining elevated bridge at the front to make it easier to go back and forth. Scott and Mary Ann were placed in the "adult" tent which had an outdoor bathtub.
All the tents had an elevated view of the watering hole, which was significantly further away than the one at Amboseli had been. I had gotten used to having the animals come close enough for portrait capturing, so this was a bit disappointing. The watering hole was to provide excitement that we could not have predicted.
This was our first drive with Alex. We saw several animals, including fuzzy baby warthogs, jackals, a rogue male Cape Buffalo, and our first rhinos of the trip. The landscape was completely different, and we were able to go off the roads into the bush. Although, it did seem like we were just randomly making loops in the bush without much success.
Alex's communication style was very different than Phillip's had been. With Phillip, he would be on the radio communicating with other drivers and then would let us know that we were going to head somewhere on a "secret mission."
In South Africa we had also experienced this expectation management, where the driver doesn't want to tell you what we "might see," but will let you know we're moving for something specific. Having the knowledge that we were off to try and find something was invigorating and good for keeping focus. Otherwise, it's difficult to stay engaged with only the scenery when driving around for hours.
In our drive post-mortem, we concluded that we needed to ask Alex for more communication. Jen volunteered to talk to him the next morning. We asked if he could give us just a little context about where we were going and what we might see, so we could be more involved in the drive.
One of the things we began to appreciate about the Mutara camp was the coffee one could order from the bar. They had a full commercial espresso machine, and we got into the habit of getting coffee to go on the morning drives. As we headed out, we were treated to the sun rising over the edge of Mount Kenya. Each morning it was a great way to start the day.
We had learned the previous evening that Matty was slightly freaked out by the intense stares of the rogue male Cape Buffalo that we were seeing. Especially in the dwindling light of sunset, it seemed clear that the Buffalo had zero-fucks left and the intensity of that gaze was something I kept trying to capture.
We spent some time on this morning drive with Cape Buffalo, and while still intimidating: having bright sunlight really lessened the "scare" factor. I still got joy showing Matty the zoomed in shots I was able to capture of their faces.
In our morning drive post-mortem, we were slightly concerned that we weren't seeing any lions. There was an optional drive (with additional cost) where one could go out with the rangers who had access to the tracking collar data for the lions.
Before going out again we asked Alex about the possibility of scheduling that drive for the "children" to make sure that we got enough lion time. Alex was skeptical that we would need to do this, but agreed to find out the availability.
While waiting at the bar for the rest of the party, I discovered that there was "pink gin" available. Specifically the Gordon's Premium Pink which is flavored with berries and NOT rose. For the rest of the trip, we were obsessed with a simple Pink G&T, which I consumed at nearly every meal.
Matty discovered that Alex had previously been the camp bartender, and started asking for more complicated coffee beverages. After an afternoon cocktail, a fancy coffee was the perfect thing to consume right before getting on the truck for the drive.
After another drive without any lions, we pressed Alex to find out if we could schedule the ranger drive for the next day. It was going to be difficult to fit in, but we thought it would be worth the opportunity.
For dinner that evening, we were being brats. The previous dinner there was a table with several children that had been allowed to run free in the dining room and we asked if we could eat in the bar area so that we could end the day on a calm note.
We heard from our server Christine that lions had been heard in the distance throughout the afternoon. It was suggested that we should keep an eye on the watering hole as after the lions would announce themselves, they sometimes would show up there.
Jen wasn't feeling great, and left early to take a shower. While hanging out with Matt and Rebecca, we heard the lions again and they seemed closer. We migrated over to the dining area as that had a view of the watering hole. While there were no lions visible, it was clear that all other animals had cleared out.
We were escorted back to the tents, and I let Jen know that lions were possibly coming. I got camera gear ready while Jen donned a robe. We met Matt and Rebecca out on our shared deck and we observed the watering hole. Almost right away, there was another loud ruckus and lions came strolling into view.
The lions were too far away and it was too dark for me to have any chance of getting pictures. While we were trying to keep track of them at a distance, our tent phones were ringing. Matty answered and found Alex on the line asking if we wanted to go out for a closer look. We agreed right away, and while Jen got dressed: Rebecca checked with her parents to see if they were interested. They declined and we called for our escort back to the dining area.
This was the most intense game drive I've ever been on. Everything was heightened. Without any lights but the headlights of the truck, your perspective narrows dramatically. It was more difficult to anticipate the movement of the truck as it moved over the terrain. The area we were driving into had a down into and then up over what was possibly a decent sized stream during the rainy season. As we worked ourselves into position by the lions, it was clear that it would take a 3-point turn to get back out, which added to the feeling of being trapped.
It was pretty clear to me that the lions did not care about us at all. After initially looking up as we arrived, they settled back into resting. The cubs moved away from the bright lights, but otherwise they appeared undisturbed. My heart was still racing and I did my best to brace myself to shoot over the top of the windshield of the truck.
Alex would cycle through the headlight settings to minimize how much we were disturbing the pride. Once I settled down some, I tried to point out to Matty where one of the cubs had moved and he barely acknowledged me and continued to stare straight ahead. Later we figured out that Matt and Rebecca did not have the same comfort level reading the body language of cats as we did. As we pulled up, the lioness had yawned at us and they had interpreted that as an intimidation display.
After we had been there for a while, another truck made its way down from the camp. These folks had brought along their, seemingly small, children. While our truck was full of diligent rule followers trying not to attract attention of the lions, that truck had tiny humans who were loudly speaking and moving around. This made us more comfortable, as we assumed the tiny snacks would draw attention before we did, but we still decided that we should make our way back to camp.
Afterwards, Alex joked with us. Asking if we still thought we needed to schedule the ranger drive.
We made our way to Ol Pejeta where we visited the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Baraka, the blind rhinoceros.
It was quite hot and we didn't see that many chimps, but we did get up close with Baraka. We each stood next to his head and fed him leaves while having our picture taken. At one point during our group pose, he swung his head in search of more snacks and the power I felt from him just moving his head around was impressive.
Equator
On the way out the conservancy, Alex asked us to guess where he was taking us. I don't think any of us guessed correctly, but we still made the stop on the Equator.
We made our way back to camp and had the afternoon for lunch and relaxing.
Mutara had options to eat meals out in the bush, and we were lucky that our group was big enough that they ended up being private meals for us. This evening we walked out the front of the camp where dinner had been set out.
After dinner, we returned to camp to get ready for our late night drive. A late night drive required a ranger accompany Alex for another set of eyes and potentially additional animal deterrent.
Right as we approached the gate, Alex and the ranger were observing some activity off to the left. As soon as we cleared the gate, we drove over there and were treated to our second late night encounter with lions. This one much more active...content warning for the coming photos.
Right as we pulled up, we were treated to the reaction of an actual angry cat. We had been told that the animals considered the trucks as large animals which were always around. This was the first time we saw behavior that backed up that claim. This female had clearly taken down this zebra and the male had just settled in to eat dinner. When we drove up: she reacted as if she thought we were going to take her kill and/or disturb the male.
She stayed vigilant the entire time we were there observing them. The longer that we hung around, the crazier the scene became. Jackals were on the periphery preparing to make a play for scraps. A scouting hyena wandered past casing the scene. After a while, we drove away to look for other animals.
Spotting animals in the dark is difficult, but capturing photos of them once spotted can be even more challenging. I have blurry photos of a few other animals from that night, but only the lions are really sharp.
We drove around and found another male lion who was on his own resting on the open plain. As we observed him, he sleepily made eye contact with us and then laid back down. After several minutes, the call from another lion reached our ears. The lion in front of us got up and began to respond back to the call. When he made as if he was going to walk off, we moved the truck back towards the camp entrance.
Before we called it quits for the night, we stopped by the lions eating the zebra we had visited with earlier. Upon arrival, we found the scene to be even more wild. There were two male lions consuming the zebra (looking at the photos later, I realized that one of the males was the solitary lion from the plains--apparently the call was the dinner bell), and there were lion heads in the surrounding area which were too numerous to get a good count. The jackals had begun to run in and steal scraps. Female lions were taking pieces off for their cubs. It was active and very cool to observe.
I have a few videos from that evening as well. I wish there had been more light to have been able to capture all the lion heads we could see surrounding the kill.
2 hours De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 94 mi
1 hour, 45 minutes De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 117 mi
Four Points by Sheraton Airport
Four Points by Sheraton Airport
5 hours Boeing 777-300ER 2,082 mi
12 hours, 21 minutes Airbus A350-900 6,502 mi